Wind-wheel.



No. 789,998. a

w UNITED STATEs Patented May 16, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

WIND-WHEEL.`

- sPEoIFIeA'rIoN forming part of Letters Patent No. 789,993, aated May16, 1905.

' Application fiied November 7,1908; sensi No. 180,278.

T0 all whom it nuty concrn:

Be it known that we, AUREL VON MUNTEAN 'and SAMUEL BIRTLER, subjects ofthe King of i Austrla Hungary, residing. at Szaszvaros, i

Austria-Hungary, havel invented a new and useful VVind-Vheel, of whichthe following is va full, clear, and exact description.

The present invention relates to windwheels; and its object is to'provide'a wheell which will always be rotated in one direction by thewind whatever the'direction of the latter may be without the necessit'yof first adjusting the position of the wheel. Simple and convenientmeans for stopping the wheel are also provided.

in section on line CD of Fig. i; Fig. 6, a plan,

partly in'horizontal section, of a modified form of wheel; and Fig. 7 asecti'onal elevation of Fig. 6.

The wind-wheel consists of the upper and lower horizontally-disposeddisks a and b, which are mounted to rotate on a verticallydisposed shafte, and between which the sails o, of canvas or other flexible material,are mounted. These sails are curved in plan View and are fastened to thetop 'and bottom disks, along their edges, in any suitable manner. Thelower disk is mounted in. the device illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 so asto be capable of movement toward the upper disk, and when the dis'ks arethus closed up against each other the sails will be folded and the wheelwill cease rotating,because the wind will no longer have access to thesails. In order to raise the lower disk Z) and close it against theupper one, a, the former is provided with a ring g, by which it iscoupled to the shaft by means of a key or feather and recess in theknown manner so that the disk will rotate with the said shaft, but willbe free to slide on the same. The disk g runs on a ball-bearing, thelower cup of which isv formed by the upper "flange e' of a sleeve L,mounted onthe 'standards k, the said sleeve being held against rotation-by means of a key or feather Z and recess in the standard-top. Thissleeve is provided with a rack m, and a pinion engages in the same atthe upper part, said pinion being mounted o n a suitable shaft journaledin the upper-part of the standards lc. The shaft 0 'of the pinion p isprovided with a crank-handle n, so that whenthe handle; and with it Vthepinion, is turned the sleeve /t may be raised up and closed against theupper disk a, whereby the sails will be folded between the two disks.

The shaft is journaled at its lower end in a thrust-block bearing f andmay carry a suitable gear at its lower end for transmitting power to anydesired mechanism.

In the device illustrated in Figs. 6 and 7 the wheel is formed to aturbine-wheel,-the wind entering the same in a horizontalv plane andleaving it in avertical direction.A In this case the upper plate r isprovided with a central dip W, and the lower plate 8 is also providedwith a downwardly-extending central fiange 8', leaving a centraldownward opening, the said lower plate 8 being attached to the ring g bymeans of bars or spokes t. Around the wheel is mounted a stationary ringa, having guide-blades o therein to guide the wind into the wheel. Themeans for raising the lower disk to close up against the upper one andthe arrangement of the sails in this modification are similar to that ofthe device first described, with the difference that the inner ends ofthe sails are of course defiected in the known manner, as will beclearly seen on reference to Fig. 6 of the drawings.

VVe claim as our invention- 1. A horizontally-disposed wind-wheelconsisting of twov superposed disks, having the sails attached along thetops and bottoms between them a Vertical shaft to carry the said disks,means for normally keeping the sails `stretched, and means for movingthe disks to close them together and fold the sails in the manner andfor the described.

2. A horizontally-disposed wind-wheel consisting of two superposed diSkShaving the Sails attaehed along the tops and bottoms between them, meansfor normally keeping the Sails stretched, means for elosing the diskstogether, the said Sails being eurved radially, in plan view in themanner and for the purpose substantially as deseribed.

3. A horizontally-disposed wind-wheel consisting of two superposed diskshaving the Sails attached along the tops and bottoms between them aVertical Shaft to carry the whole, means for normally keepingthe Sailsstretched, and means for raising the lower disk to close against theupper one and fold up the Sails in the manner and for the purposesubstantially as described.

4. A horizontally-disposed wind-wheel,eonsisting of a pair of superposeddisks, a Vertically-mounted shaft to carry the said disks, a Series ofSails of fiexible material having their top and bottom edges attaehedrespeetively to the upper and lower disks, and means for moving one ofthe Said disks longitudinally on the supporting-Shaft in the manner andfor the purpose substantially as described.

5. A horizontally-disposed wind-wheel,eonsisting of a pair of Superposeddisks having purpose substantially as their central portions annularlydefleeted to form a lower Outlet, a Series of fiexible Sails mountedbetween the said disks, means for moving one of the Said disks towardthe other, a vertically-disposed shaft to carry the whole` and astationary ring surrounding the said wheel and having guide-wingstherein in the manner and for the purpose substantially as described.

6. A horizontally-disposed wind-wheeLconsisting of an upper and a lowerdisk having a series of fiexible Sails mounted between the same, aVertical Shaft to which the upper disk is fixed, and on which the lowerdisk is slidably mounted on a key or feather, a sleeve Surrounding thelower part of the said shaft and a frame to support the Same,ball-bearings inserted between the top of said sleeve and the lowersurface of the lower disk, and means for raising and lowering the saidsleeve at will in the manner and for the purpose Substantially asdescribed.

ln witness whereof we have hereunto Set our hands in presence of twowitnesses.

AUREL V. MUNTEAN.

SAMUEL BIRTLER.

Witnesses:

MARCELL PXTOR, LOUIS VANDoR.

